Translation

This essay focuses on two particular types of translation: the specializedtranslation and the “technology-assisted” one. The latter, is the translation produced with the aid of novel methodologies such as software, IT (information technology) and the Web, which is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for professional translators and students. Translation is not simply the replacement of a ST word with its closest grammatical and semantic equivalent of the TT, as it is almost always considered by who is not skilled in this field or simply does not study it. Translation is a process, not a single activity, and implies a series of phases, often very complex, which require significant time and efforts. This issue becomes harder in the case of specialized translations. In the past, translations were produced only with the aid of dictionaries or by someone who had been where the TL was spoken in such a way that (s)he learnt it and, once came back to his/her native country, (s)he could produce a translation. This, often, had led to serious consequences for both the translator, who did not produce a suitable TT, and for who needed and commissioned the translation. And this is what I want to highlight: the difficulties that a translator has to face every time (s)he is going to translate a specialized text (and, generally speaking, any kind of text). My intent is to show how they could be overcame. My intention is to produce a specialized translation in both these ways. First with the “traditional” method, that is to say only with the aid of papedictionaries (both monolingual and bilingual ones and technical dictionary)and relying on my intuition. Secondly with the “technology-assisted” method, that is to say by using all the technologies I have at my disposal, first of them the different kinds of online (and time saving) dictionaries and technical dictionaries, software for querying corpora and the web, useful for its double function: as a global corpus and as an infinite source for my searches. I produced the whole “simple” translation and after that, taking as starting point the first translation, I translated again the ST with technology. Since the “experiment” has been carried out by and on a single person (me), I acted in this way (not producing both translations simultaneously) in order to not influence the “simple” translation with the “technological” one. The ST of my translation is the technical annual report of ABB. ABB, formerly Asea Brown Boveri, is a multinational corporation headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, operating mainly in the power and automation technology areas. ABB is one of the largest engineering companies as well as one of the largest conglomerate companies in the world. ABB has operations in around 100 countries, with approximately 115,000 employees (2008).